Personal blog about states
Russia controlled most of the area that is now Alaska from the late 1700s until 1867, when it was purchased by U.S. Secretary of State William Seward for $7.2 million, or about two cents an acre.
The name ” Alaska ” is derived from the Aleut “alaxsxaq”, meaning “the mainland” or, more literally, “the object towards which the action of the sea is directed”. It is also known as “Alyeska”, the “great land”, an Aleut word derived from the same root.
The purchase of Alaska in 1867 marked the end of Russian efforts to expand trade and settlements to the Pacific coast of North America , and became an important step in the United States rise as a great power in the Asia-Pacific region.
Alaska
Alaska Alax̂sxax̂ ( Aleut ) Alaasikaq (Inupiaq) Anáaski (Tlingit) Alas’kaaq (Pacific Gulf Yupik) | |
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Country | United States |
Before statehood | Territory of Alaska |
Admitted to the Union | January 3, 1959 (49th) |
Capital | Juneau |
There are two main reasons. First, Canada wasn’t its own country in 1867. Second, Great Britain controlled the Canadian colonies. Russia did not want to sell Alaska to its rival.
ALASKA was a Russian colony from 1744 until the USA bought it in 1867 for $7,200,000. It was made a state in 1959. Hawaii was a kingdom until 1893 and became a republic in 1894. It then ceded itself to the USA in 1898 and became a state in 1959.
8 Famous Alaskans Curt Schilling. Schilling spent his early years in Anchorage. Valerie Plame Wilson. Plame Wilson was born on a military base in Anchorage. Jewel . Born in Utah, the 90’s pop icon grew up in Homer, Alaska. Irene Bedard. Larry Sanger. Wyatt Earp. Jack London. John Muir.
The Last Frontier
Its capital was Novo-Arkhangelsk (New Arkhangelsk), which is now Sitka, Alaska , United States. Settlements spanned parts of what are now the U.S. states of California, Alaska and three forts in Hawaii. Russian America.
Russian America Русская Америка Russkaya Amyerika | |
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• Alaska Purchase | 18 October 1867 |
The narrowest distance between mainland Russia and mainland Alaska is approximately 55 miles. The stretch of water between these two islands is only about 2.5 miles wide and actually freezes over during the winter so you could technically walk from the US to Russia on this seasonal sea ice.
20 Things Everyone In Alaska Should Avoid At All Costs Farmed seafood. Flickr – Judi Knight. Or buying fish in general. Flickr – Alaska Region U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Even feeding your dogs farmed fish. Eating hot dogs. Camping without a view. Snacking on chips from the lower 48. Shopping at big corporate box stores. Drinking wine that isn’t from Alaska .
On a clear day, you could climb a hill on Cape Prince of Wales and maybe make out mainland Siberia, just fifty miles away. But it’s much easier to get a view of Russia view by heading out into the Bering Strait to one of America’s weirdest destinations: Little Diomede Island.
Delaware
1867: Alaska territory purchased from Russia for $7 million. 1898: Hawaii annexed as a United States territory. 1959: Alaska and Hawaii admitted, respectively, as the 49th and 50th states of the Union.
Delaware